Kevin Piper commented on a post:
Dearborn Station (also referred to as Polk Street Station) was the oldest of the six big intercity train stations once serving downtown Chicago. Located at Dearborn and Polk Streets, the station was owned by the Chicago & Western Indiana which itself was owned by several railroad companies operating over its line.Amtrak chose to consolidate its Chicago operations at Union Station. The final intercity passenger train to depart Dearborn Station was the Grand Trunk Western's International Limited, which departed on April 30, 1971. The arrival of the Santa Fe's San Francisco Chief and Grand Canyon from California on May 2 brought intercity operations at Dearborn to a close. The Norfolk & Western's, Orland Park commuter service, the Orland Park Cannonball (now Metra Southwest Service) continued to use a platform until 1976. In 1976, Dearborn Station's train shed was demolished and tracks were removed; the historic head house building was retained. The train station stood abandoned into the mid-1980's when it was finally converted to retail and office space. Train yards became today's Dearborn Park.
(Update: Tom Kepshire has pictures and history of the Dearborn Station on his Monon site. Marty Bernard captured a couple of Sante Fe trains in the train shed. The shed was 700 feet long. SouthLoopHistorical has a short history.)
The Dearborn Street Station is the only building I know of whose appearance was improved by a fire because it removed the clock tower's ugly roof.
The Dearborn Street Station is the only building I know of whose appearance was improved by a fire because it removed the clock tower's ugly roof.
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| Cindy Gray posted 1910. "Dearborn Street Station Chicago
[Note that cars existed, but horse and buggies still dominated.]
Grace E. Kennings-Kwiatkowska also posted Paul Webb shared a different cropping and exposure
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| Robert Daly posted Dearborn Station when new, 1885. A 1922 fire destroyed the cupola and attic roof. Bill Molony shared |
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| Dearborn Station before the 1922 fire, Monon |
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| Bill Rogerson posted Dennis DeBruler This is the first colorized image I have seen of Dearborn Station before the fire. |
During the fire:
After the fire.
Marty Bernard posted three images with the comment: "Scanning Roger Puta's slide of Dearborn Station and an old picture of a postcard that has been on my hard drive a long time (source unknown) made me go look at the station today via Google Maps. Here are those three photos."
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| Jimmy Fiedler posted Dearborn station on fire 1922 south loop Chicago IL |
After the fire.
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| Chuckman's Collection: Dearborn Street Station Bill Molony also posted with the comment: "This is a post card picture of Dearborn Station in Chicago from about 1924 or 1925. At that time, Dearborn station hosted the passenger trains of eight different railroads." |
Marty Bernard posted three images with the comment: "Scanning Roger Puta's slide of Dearborn Station and an old picture of a postcard that has been on my hard drive a long time (source unknown) made me go look at the station today via Google Maps. Here are those three photos."
Tom Minetree: I wonder when the changes were made and why...I can guess the cost and maintaining that roof was expensive.. looks like slate roof.
Marty Bernard shared
Marty Bernard shared
Marty Bernard shared
Marty Bernard shared
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| Dennis DeBruler answered Tom's question There was a bad fire in 1922. Dennis DeBruler commented on the last two shares The reason the roof was simplified is because there was a bad fire in 1922. |
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| Wikipedia |
By the turn of the century, the station hosted 25 railroads, 146 trains per day carrying more than 17,000 passengers. (AmericanRails, DearbornStation)
The station has been converted to office and retail space and anchored the redevelopment of the rail yards as Dearborn Park, a community of residences and parks. It also helped revitalize the Printers Row District of Chicago. If you scroll down on the office-and-retail page, you can find links to historical and current photos of the station.
Update: BDBRCPC posted two photos with the comment:
Dearborn Station as it appeared before the fire in 1922.On December 21, 1922 a fire destroyed the roof attic and third floor of the main building. It was repaired within a few months, but there were drastic changes in the appearance of the building. The steep pitched roofs were replaced with flat roofs surrounded by parapet walls. Four new tracks were added in 1924 along with a new timber platform and canopy on the west side.Most of the station is still there, the peaked roof on the tower was removed years ago.
Raymond Kunst shared
Raymond Kunst shared again
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| Original Chicago posted What television show is this line from and who said it? Why was Dearborn Station referenced? "I’ve eaten a river of liver and an ocean of fish. I’ve eaten so much fish, I’m ready to grow gills. I’ve eaten so much liver, I can only make love if I’m smothered in bacon & onions." Dearborn Station as it appeared before the fire in 1922. Glass plate negative. They decided against rebuilding the tower during it's reconstruction. Dennis DeBruler shared The answer to the question according to some comments is Hawkeye Pierce on M.A.S.H. The episode was about the bureaucratic difficulty of ordering ribs from a fictional Adam's Rib that was close to Dearborn Station. But my reason for sharing is that this is another view of the station roofs before the 1922 fire. And it is a reminder that the freight house west of the station was owned by the Wabash Railroad. It also shows that horses were still used for some freight but cars were making a significant impact on passenger travel. And streetcars were still running. Lawrence Smith: why is the street under the streetcar elevated? Deanna Stark: That is a nice historic scene showing vaulted sidewalks that were placed after buildings were already in place and the street was raised quite a bit. The buildings, for what looks like several blocks, were torn down, exposing the space under the sidewalks. The street has limestone walls at the curb line and the centers were filled in with sand from Indiana before the turn of the century, and then sidewalks were laid either on I-beams crossing from these walls and embedded into the buildings, or concrete posts were erected right next to the buildings. The spaces were often as high as 9 feet. Once the buildings were torn down, the vacant lots were filled in, as shown in process in this pic, to raise that level to the same height as the modern street level! That stupid Geraldo Rivera show about CAPONE’S vault was the result of the vault on the Michigan street side of the old Lexington Hotel caving in, and the void was filled in with urban debris and a ew sidewalk laid over that. This was a common occurrence with these vaults downtown! I went in the old hotel many times and saw this, and the vault on the 22nd Street side of the hotel was still intact! You could stand under it and hear people walking by on the sidewalk above! That sidewalk was actually giant flagstone limestone slabs laid right on those beams!…….Al’s Vault my ass!!! They should have talked to me!! I knew just what they’d find when they dug into the cemented window and door openings of what was once the actual first floor of that hotel before they raised the streets and built the vaults in 1898!!! That first floor became the basement!! I can’t believe they did not understand Chicago history enough to know why that cement was in the basement to begin with!! What a joke!!! |
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| Jeff Nichols posted on Facebook from Kansas Historical Society of The Chief leaving Dearborn |
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| Ted Prince posted Edward Kwiatkowski shared Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted a different exposure This photo was the centerfold in the April, 1980 issue of Trains magazine. It was taken by Gordon Lloyd on June 30, 1956 at Dearborn Station in Chicago. Monon #11, the Tippecanoe, is leaving for Indianapolis at 8:55 AM while C&EI #11, the New Dixieland to Miami will depart at 9:00 AM. [There are a lot of informative comments on this post.] |
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| Robert Wanner posted Well, it's Chicago and I believe Dearborn Station (hope that's right), with all I could see when I walked out on the bridge over the tracks. Chicago & Western Indiana RR Alco locomotives and maybe one of C&WI's passenger trains laying over between a commuter run. No other trains arriving or leaving at mid-day. This would be 4th of July Weekend in 1954. Photo by Robert Wanner. Larry Graham: Looks like a Monon train spotted up by the freight house. Or a group of express cars from the tenant carriers being unloaded. James Bopp: That’s a Santa Fe train on the far left-hand side of the screen. Bret Robertson: It's a Wabash head end car. William D Brown: The tall Building on the left is the CBOT tallest in Chicago till Prudential was built in 56 Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society shared The C&EI Meadowlark from southern Illinois was due in Dearborn at 12:30 PM according to the April 25, 1954 time table. Jim Kelling: Dearborn (or Polk Street station); the Lee’s jeans sign makes it certain. Robert Wanner shared Dave Rotthoff: Another clue is the C&WI Alco [RS-1] switchers. The C&WI was owned by the GTW, C&EI, Monon, Erie, and Wabash and the C&WI also, on paper, owned Dearborn Station. Effectively, though, it was the Erie, etc., that owned the station. The Santa Fe was just a tenant [as of 1887], with a 999 year lease. Mark Niceley: Plus the Chicago Indianapolis & Louisville (Monon), which never owned track outside of if the State of Indiana. But they did run some decent passenger trains to Indy till the late 1950's. And a train to Louisville ran till the late 1960's. One claim to fame was that they rubbed shoulders with the Mighty Santa Fe at Dearborn!! What's left is now CSX and Amtrak's Cardinal uses part of the former Monon Main Line to get from Indy to Chicago. Bret Robertson: Help me understand, what is coupled to the front of the switch engine? |
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| John Harker posted Wabash #21 the Domeliner Blue Bird was photographed leaving Chicago's Dearborn Station in July 1955. By this date the scheduled departure time was 4:45 pm. There is a lot to see in this scene. No photographer was listed. John Harker image editing and collection. Scott Wright: A very busy place in 1955. Three switchers shuttling equipment, almost every track in the train shed occupied, express cars spotted everywhere. Passengers and baggage were shuttled between Chicago's six intercity passenger stations for connections. [Note that the skyline still allows us to see the Prudential Building from Roosevelt Road.] John L Garcia shared Mark Niceley: Wow, at that time the Monon still had three round trips a day out of there!! "The Hoosier" and "Tippecanoe" to Indy, and the "Thoroughbred" to Louisville!! But changes were soon coming. And not for the better!! Indy trains were axed in April of '59 and by September of '67, the Monon was "Freight Service Only"!! |
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| Bill Molony posted Monon Railroad train #5, The Throughbred, departing from Dearborn Station in Chicago, circa 1965. |
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| Robert Daly posted [looking Southwest] View of the Dearborn Station complex from the 624 South Michigan building, Dec. 24 1975. The one story building to the left of the main building was the Annex, which handled commuter trains of the Wabash, C&EI, and C&WI. |
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| Posted by Evan Stair and brightened by David Daruszka Dearborn Station? I purchased this on eBay recently. It said Dearborn station, which fits the waiting room with the windows that looked over the tracks but something that seems out of place are the video games. Did such video games exist in 1971? The game on the side wall appears to be a 1969 Midway Sea Raider. https://www.petesgameroom.net/1969-midway-sea-raider/ The N&W commuter run that used the annex along Polk Street had a waiting room of its own that could best be described as rudimentary. |
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James Holzmeier ->
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| From Gary Sims' Collection |
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| Bill Molony -> RAILROAD HISTORY BUFFS OF ILLINOIS |
Santa Fe 4-6-2 Pacific-type #3428 at Chillicothe, Illinois on November 13, 1940. The 3428 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1921. Note that it is equipped with a flip-top smoke stack; flipping it down was necessary in order to clear the train sheds at Dearborn Station in Chicago.
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| Stuart Pearson posted |
SantaFe Grand Canyon Limited just prior to Departure from Dearborn St. Station. Photo by Charles McCrearyMany of the comments are interesting:
Eric Reinert: Is that possibly the rear half of the same train to the right? I know the Santa Fe ran some trains that were too long for the trainshed at Dearborn. I like the Monon RPO over to the right as well.
Keith Rieger Sr.: Looks like the switches are lined up for it!
Eric Reinert: Yep, looks like that switchtender just lined it up.Chris D. Gardner: Passenger FT's
Kenneth Andresen's posting has the Deaborn train station on the right, the Monon freight house on the left, and the tower of the LaSalle Street depot in the background. Jimmy Fiedler posted a colored photo of a Santa Fe train that includes the train station and the Monon freight house.
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| Bob Lalich's comment on Steve's posting |
Here is one of the oldest photos I have showing the throat and station tracks, taken before the 1922 fire. The track layout changed many times over the years. Originally the coach yard was here at the station and was called Taylor St Yard. You can see that the tracks on the left are being used for that purpose at the time of the photo. Platforms have already been extended for a few of the tracks. Taylor St itself can clearly be seen crossing all the station tracks. That arrangement would remain until the station closed, although it wasn't very visible from Roosevelt Road after the platforms were extended again after this photo.
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| David Daruszka's comment on Steve's posting |
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| David Daruszka's comment on Steve's posting |
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| David Daruszka's comment on Steve's posting Switching the Annex |
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David Daruszka's comment on Steve's posting
Demolition
Gary Statkus posted
The demolition of the Dearborn Street railroad station, 1976. Dearborn Street Station opened on May 8, 1885, and the last intercity passenger trains visited the station on May 05, 1971. The last commuter train to use the station was Norfolk & Western's Orland Park train in 1976.[You have to use some imagination, but you can see how the train shed looked like a steel mill building.] Steve Andolino shared Bill Molony Only the train shed of Dearborn Station was demolished. The actual station building itself remains in place to this day. |
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| Chet Lunsford posted |
Chicago Noir
Boarding the Santa Fe at Dearborn Station, 1949.
Photo- Stanley Kubrick
Boarding the Santa Fe at Dearborn Station, 1949.
Photo- Stanley Kubrick
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| A Roger Puta Photo |
I like how Roger caught the lighted clock tower in the background.
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| Marty Bernard shared a Roger Puta Photo |
AT&SF F7A 34C with Train 2, The San Francisco Chief, taken from Roosevelt Road Viaduct, Chicago, IL on December 26, 1967.The Meadow Gold Butter building dominates the background of this photo. This vantage point of the Dearborn leads is far enough south that we are seeing some of the freight houses.
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| Jason Jordan shared Dearborn Station about 1950. The Monon train is arriving while the C&EI train is waiting to leave on this afternoon. |
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| Marty Bernard posted a Roger Puta photo Roger's June 13, 1966 slide. |
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| Marty Bernard posted ATSF 45C (F7A) with Train 23, The Grand Canyon, departing Dearborn Station, Chicago, IL on February 19, 1968. Notice that the double slip switch in front of 45C has movable frogs moved by pneumatic switch machines. The pipe from the compressor can be seen running along between the tracks. A Roger Puta photo. Jeff Lewis Short train. What do you suppose the car with the splash of red on it along the platform is? Marty Bernard Those look like cars for the Monon and Erie-Lackawanna trains. The one with the red splash, I have no idea. |
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| Tom Bedwell posted I have many 35 mm slides (now converted to digital) that I took in the 1950's. This is one of my favorites. Dearborn Station - Chicago. Edward Kwiatkowski shared |
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| Bob Lalich commented on Jeff's comment on Marty's post The red car next to the REA platform was a C&WI caboose. Here is a photo of #1971, from the collection of Dan Murray. This caboose is seen in numerous photos taken at Dearborn. |
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| Todd Protzman Davis shared a Zachary Taylor Davis - Chicago Architect post Solan S. Beman’s (1890) Romanesque Revival Grand Central Station, c. 1942. The station's highest point was a 14-story clock tower (which contained a 6-ton bell) at the corner of Wells and Harrison Streets. BHRS posted |
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| Todd Protzman Davis commented on Zachary's post c. 1910 |
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| Philip Wizenick posted Grand Trunk Western 4-8-4 no. 6409 blasts out of Chicago's Dearborn Station on February 2, 1952, in this Wallace W. Abbey photograph. [From a comment whose attribution I have lost. But I'd bet it was Bob Lalich. "Looking north from the stairs of the Roosevelt Tower."] |
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| Mid-Century Decator posted Decatur passengers on the Wabash Banner Blue have debarked in Chicago's Dearborn station on February 2, 1952, 69 years ago today. After shut-down, the engineer has jumped down with his handbag from the 4-6-4 steam locomotive, dedicated to high speed passenger service. These steam locomotives were built in 1943-1944, in the Wabash Decatur shops, just prior to the beginning of the transition to diesel power on the Wabash in 1946. Their distinctive all blue paint scheme is not obvious in black and white, but the broad white stripe is visible rising up the front and then down the side. 702 would operate four more years into 1956, before being scrapped out while still relatively new, due to the vast efficiency improvements of diesel operation. (Photo - Center for Railroad Photography & Art) Richard Fiedler: The Wabash ended mainline steam the summer of 1953 and stored serviceable their Northerns, Hudson’s, and some Pacifics. The rationale was that in case a national emergency the railroad would have sufficient motive power on hand. All remaining stored steam was scrapped by the end of 1956. Sammy Smith shared Tom Wilson: The engineers bag was known as a Grip. Chet French: By February 1952, the 702 would be pinch hitting for a diesel that day. Probably why the engine looks so dirty. The regular power by then was an E8. Bill Molony shared Bruce B. Reynolds: I recall that the longest-lasting transcontinental sleeping car service was run on the UP trains from LA to Chicago, with the car going every other day on the NYC and then the PRR to New York. There were several sleeping cars painted in UP Armour Yellow, but owned and lettered PENNSYLVANIA which did the PRR side of the business, as least into 1964. Richard Fiedler: Wabash’s Landers yard roundhouse serviced all power both freight and passenger in the Chicago after it opened in 1903. That also meant for both lines Chicago to Bement and Chicago to Montpelier. Prior to that all power was serviced at Wabash’s roundhouse at I believe 40th St that dated from 1880. I would assume that was demolished after Landers opened. |
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| Bob Lalich commented on Richard's comment I suspect the roundhouse at 40th St was eliminated when the railroads in that area were elevated. There was still evidence of the old roundhouse years later, as seen in this 1938 aerial. |
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| Bob Lalich commented on another comment by Richard asking when theis route was elevated. Here is a 1905 photo showing elevation work in the vicinity of Wabash's 47th St Yard. This is from a thesis on the elevation project by Noah Henning Jacobsen, dated June 1906. If there was a photo taken looking north, the old Wabash roundhouse would be visible. |
David M Laz posted three pictures. His comment:
David's comment:
Richard Fiedler GTW looks like a fan trip. Look at the people in the baggage car
Eric Reinert Great photo! Love the two Erie PA's in the two tone green paint. This could be one of the excursions on GTW in 1960 maybe?
Gerry Grzyb posted a couple of pictures with the comment: "Here's a different angle on the U30CGs, and a pic of the H12-44 that handled Dearborn switching duties. July 1968." I'm so glad he included the picture of the Fairbanks Morse switcher. It looks better than the one at IRM.
Steve Lewandowski posted two photos with the comment:
Steve Lewandowski posted two photos with the comment: "Dearborn station Chicago."
Mark Kocol The path that Al Capone walked to head off to Atlanta - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5HjF1q7IrO0
RS 2 doing passenger train service in late 50's for the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railroad, known affectionately as the Monon from the Chicago Dearborn St. Station.
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| David M Laz posted |
Dearborn Station, Chicago in the 1950'sFour locomotives and three railroads:Two beautiful Erie Alco PA1 passenger locomotives, one Santa Fe Fairbanks-Morse switcher (with black and white stripes), and a Grand Trunk Western steam locomotive, just out of sight (darn it!) Fred Stuckmann collection.
Eric Reinert Great photo! Love the two Erie PA's in the two tone green paint. This could be one of the excursions on GTW in 1960 maybe?
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| David M Laz posted More beautiful Santa Fe F units at Dearborn Station! |
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| Bill Molony posted Santa Fe train #1, the San Francisco Chief, ready to depart from Dearborn Station in April, 1971. Brandon McShane #1 had a 10:00 a.m. departure in 1971. This is probably #15, the Texas Chief. [Amtrak will soon move all of its passenger trains to Union Station.] |
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| Steve Lewandowski posted Oh my love this! Chicago's Dearborn Station train sheds after they closed in 1971 and before they were torn down in 1976. Mark Jones Very depressing ... Never visited Dearborn — always a dark, odd trainshed... And, a truncated tower due to the ‘22 fire. Hard to believe the beloved and heavily worshiped ATSF streamliners called this dingy affair home |
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| Comments on the post Jason Moors Where was the N&W annex for its Orland Park train? Ray Weart That would have been to the left of Dearborn Station. Here's the N&W annex circa 1974. Photographer unknown. Jon Roma Oh that is neat, Ray Weart! With the bottom of the famous Lee jeans building sign for context. I only poked around this diminutive station once, right prior to riding the N&W train to Orland Park for the first and only time before the service moved to Union Station. |
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| Chris Schultz commented on a post 2018, still somewhat visible Lee sign. |
Gerry Grzyb posted a couple of pictures with the comment: "Here's a different angle on the U30CGs, and a pic of the H12-44 that handled Dearborn switching duties. July 1968." I'm so glad he included the picture of the Fairbanks Morse switcher. It looks better than the one at IRM.
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Center for Railroad Photography & Art posted Grand Trunk Western 4-8-4 no. 6409 blasts out of Chicago's Dearborn Station on February 2, 1952, in this Wallace W. Abbey photograph. We're busy updating our website and adding more images from our archives, including a new gallery of eighty-one highlights from our Abbey Collection. |
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| Dave Creighton posted [Since he posted to Chicagoland Railfan, this has to be some sort of special occasion at Dearborn.] |
A beautiful image taken inside the Dearborn Station Train Barn pre-demolition in 1976. If these rails could only talk such a story they could tell! Marvelous tales of success and failures, celebration and jubilation, goodbyes and hearty welcomes.The kaleidoscope of folks that traveled through here and their stories live on with us as history and lessons we have learned or found inspiration in. Some were famous, other were infamous, and many were the heartbeat of America. The average and ordinary though great in their own unique ways.
Businessman and pleasure seekers, adventurers and travelers, celebrities, paupers, and common folks all left from this departure area in this simple train shed. Fathers struggling to make a living on the road said tearful goodbyes. Some with a dream found their way here to make a home in our fair city while others left us seeking a better life elsewhere. The grass that was hopefully greener was easily accessible by rail and Chicago was a major hub.
They came in droves. A fabulous turnstile of people coming and going and all through this very barn. Worlds Fair attendees, the Columbian Exposition attendees all came right through here seeking pleasure and an escape to the good times in the Windy City . Those moments that give us a thrill or captivate us and our imaginations were plentiful back then just as they are present day.
Honest men, crooks, criminals, beggars, hoodlums, gangsters, flim-flam men, salesmen and politicians all walked on these tracks. Mothers and fathers breathed this very air heading somewhere for the short or the long. The many soldiers off to multiple wars and those that thankfully made it home again rode these very rails. The commonality was all these folks were Chicagoan's even if for a short time and they made up our rich history just as we all do and will. Time marches on. Be part of history.
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Steve Lewandowski posted two photos with the comment: "Dearborn station Chicago."
Mark Kocol The path that Al Capone walked to head off to Atlanta - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5HjF1q7IrO0
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| Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted When you are making a shove move at Dearborn and someone may not have protected the shove to pass the stop signal forward this could happen. C&EI 448 decided to get closer for passengers to board the train. No date is on the photo, C&EI company photo, C&EI HS archives Cliff Kierstead shared Wabash drumhead on the left. David Boehmer: Conductor should have been in back. Ready to Big Hole it. Protect the move. |
Daniel C Carroll Jr. shared a color photo of Monon F3A #83-B leaving Dearborn with a lot of Chicago skyline in the background.
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| Glen Miller posted GTW eastbound #158 Maple Leaf to Toronto departs behind two GP9s (4901-4912), while Santa Fe #1 San Francisco Chief waits behind F7s (32….) and Santa Fe RS1 switches inbound train Dearborn Station, Chicago, September 14, 1969. The Sears Tower under construction in the upper left corner of the photo. Photo by Paul Enenbach [Note the double-slip switches. Also, there are freight houses to the west that need to be researched. Also note the microwave horns on top of the building to the left of the Lee sign. The clock tower of the Grand Central Station behind one of the lamp brackets will be gone in just a few years.] |
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| Glen Miller posted Steam Train Leaving Dearborn Station, 1955 |
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| Bill Molony posted This is what the Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad's Dearborn Street Station in Chicago looked like about 100 years ago, in 1916. The C&WI was jointly owned by the Wabash, the Erie, the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville [Monon], the Chicago & Eastern Illinois and the Grand Trunk Western, with each of the five trunk line railroads owning 20%. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe and the Chesapeake & Ohio of Indiana also used the Dearborn Street Station, but they were both tenants, and not owners. |
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| Jim Arvites posted View of the Dearborn Street Station (also known as the Polk Street Station) in Chicago around 1900. This station brings back many great memories for me from the 1960's when I rode in and out of this depot on Santa Fe's "Texas Chief" when I was college student at Oklahoma. [An example of two different colorizations of the same photo for a postcard.] |
Brian Morgan posted a couple of pictures with the comment:
Dearborn Street Station. Located at the intersection of South Dearborn Street and West Polk Street in the South Loop District of Chicago. Pictured in black and white is the Banner Blue about to depart Chicago's Dearborn Street Station for Decatur and Saint Louis.
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| Ron Flanary posted David DeVault scan of the day. On the 10th day of January 1968 two Santa Fe Alco PAs are shown near Dearborn Street Station in Chicago. From the looks of these units, they've just gotten in with a train. At this time the PAs were handling the Chicago-LA "Grand Canyon" most of the time, as their service days were numbered. [I see three freight houses in this view. You can read "Erie Railroad" on the side of the one in the middle. It is further east along another set of tracks. Also, all of the boxcars still have their rooftop walkways.] |
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| Bill Molony posted On the left is Monon EMD F3A #84-B, waiting to depart from Dearborn Station in Chicago with train #15, The Hoosier, bound for Indianapolis Union Station. On the right is Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad Alco RS-1 #253, placing the consist of Erie Railroad train #2, The Erie Limited at its platform at Dearborn Station. [More freight houses in the background. Note the clear view of the top of the Prudential Building.] Bill Molony posted again, 1950s |
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| Dennis DeBruler shared Santa Fe train #123, the Grand Canyon, departing from Dearborn Station. Eric Korchnak Looks like the John Hancock tower is under construction in the upper right! Bob Finan Eric - The John Hancock Building construction to that elevation places this photo in the year 1967. Indra Krishnamurti ... after the end of the Post Office contracts, hence only one baggage car and no other head end equipment. That would date it to late 1967. |
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| safe_image for staticflickr Dearborn Station - October 1970. |
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| Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Historical Society posted I took this photo of an empty Dearborn Station in August, 1974. The station had been closed since Amtrak took over passenger service in 1971. |
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| Bill Molony posted This is a picture post card of Dearborn Station in Chicago - circa 1910. |
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| BRHS posted |
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| Bill Molony posted Erie-Lackawanna E8A's #827 and #832 are shown here easing out of Dearborn Station in the 1960's after delivering E-L train #5, the Lake Cities from Hoboken, New Jersey. The Electro-Motive Division of General Motors built these two streamlined diesel locomotives for the Erie Railroad in February and March of 1953. In the background can be seen Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad Alco RS-1 #258, switching Railway Express Agency express cars. |
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| Kevin Piper posted Dearborn Station, Chicago, IL, 4-71. PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN Kevin Piper poseted Dearborn Street Station, Chicago, IL, 4-71. PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN Joe Zeller Very nice shot. A.B.A.B. set up. Bob Lalich I believe this train split into two separate trains west of KC, which explains the motive power arrangement. |
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| Bill Molony posted In the center is a Santa Fe set of A-B-B-B-A EMD F-units, ready to depart from Dearborn Station with first #17, the El Capitan in June of 1967. To the left is a Santa Fe Fairbanks-Morse H-1244TS switch engine with a cut of cars. To the right is a Chicago & Western Indiana Alco RS-1 and an Erie-Lackawanna Alco PA. |
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| Dennis DeBruler posted Jerry Jackson posted this photo with the comment: "Rodney Peterson photo. New York Central E7A-4031, with E7B-possibly 4102, and an unknown E8A unit are on the point of E/B train # 26, The "Twentieth Century Limited". 10-11-63 in Chicago, IL." Some members will enjoy it because of the E units. Others because it includes the skyline. When I saw the Lee poster, I noticed that it has a good view of the Dearborn Station train shed. It originally caught my eye because it is the best view I have seen so far of the gantry crane over NYC's team tracks. |
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| Bill Molony posted Santa Fe train #17, the combined El Capitan and Super Chief, departing form Dearborn Station on January 16, 1971. The Santa Fe marketed the all-coach El Capitan and the all-sleeping car Super Chief as two separate Chicago-to-Los Angeles passenger trains, but they eventually operated them as a single consist on the same schedules.Garl Boyd Latham Super Chief and El Capitan were always maintained as two unique services under Santa Fe auspices and were operated as two physically separate trains whenever business warranted.Ean Kahn-Treras gtw backing in on the right? Those coaches dont particularly stick out to me...Bill Molony  In January of 1971, the Grand Trunk Western was still operating the Maple Leaf between Chicago and Toronto.Patrick Miller I see in this picture they also changed the engine arrangement from A-B-B-A locomotive arrangement that the Superchief and the El Capitan used to A-A-B-B units.Ramon Rhodes Patrick Miller by the mid 1960s the F unit fleet was becoming road-weary and began suffering regular breakdowns on the road. Rather than having a single forward-facing A-unit in the lashup, Santa Fe began to place a minimum of two A-units facing forward. This was done so that if there was a problem with the lead A-unit out on the road, it could be removed and there would still be an additional A-unit facing forward. Thus not delaying the train too much waiting on a properly facing A-unit to be found or turned. Also note that you begin seeing more than the standard (4) F-units pulling passenger trains in the late 1960s because in-route failures were so frequent they needed to add extra power to ensure that at least four units were working to get the train to its destination. Additionally, only the B-units had steam generators and they too had serviceability problems by the 1960s. The air conditioning on Santa Fe trains was run by the steam generators and not having working steam generators in the heat of the Southwest US during the summer was an intolerable situation. So adding additional B-units as motive power insurance and as backup steam generators was essential. |
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| John Morris posted East of Chicago's Dearborn station passenger platforms was a motive power storage location. Diesels between runs from CE&I, C&WI, Erie-Lackawanna, and Monon could In be spotted there. In June, 1967, I ventured over (and risked getting yelled at) to snap a few photos of the Monon F3s and C&EI E7. Dearborn Station's still standing clock tower can be seen above the E7. |
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| John Morris posted At the time (mid-1960s) I took this shot of the C&WI RS-1 making up the short lived Chicago version of the Phoebe Snow, it was sort of an afterthought. Little did I realize then that in a little over five years, everything in this scene would soon be gone. Today only a few of the distant high rise buildings would be recognizable from this vantage point and every railroad represented in this photo is a Fallen Flag. |
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| Donald Haskel posted Scan of full image on 127 film. Blue Bonnet leaves Chicago July 1965. Mike Tisdale All of 2 cars, so you need 2 Geeps to get it there.  I take it by 1965, the RPO was the main source of revenue. |
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| David Daruszka enhanced a photo posted by Bill Molony Erie Railroad EMD E8A's at Dearborn Station - 1957. Dennis DeBruler That's pushing the "wayback machine." It looks like a clear view of the top of the Prudential Building in the middle of the left half of the background. Craig Dickson And the YMCA! |
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| Bill Molony shared a link Dearborn Station - 1967. [Comment summary: in addition to w the four black & orange GTW locos, there is a black & yellow C&W Alco RS-1 and a EL E8 hiding behind the right two GTW locos.] Christopher N. Kaufmann: Without the later skyscrapers you can see the Lakeside Press to the right of Dearborn stn, Pittsfield bldg on Washington, Prudential on Randolph, and Straus bldg on Michigan. Matt McClure: Christopher N. Kaufmann And before First National Bank of Chicago was finished the next year (1968). Christopher N. Kaufmann: Matt McClure Yes, that bank was at this block since the 1870s I believe. Before the bank, in the 1850s the Dyer and Boone medical offices were there. Levi Boone founded the Chicago Medical Society and was later Mayor of Chicago. |
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| Bill Molony posted Chicago & Eastern Illinois EMD E7A #1100 departing from Dearborn Station with train #3, the Danville Flyer - circa 1967. This train offered coaches and a buffet lounge car, but no checked baggage. |
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| Bill Molony posted Erie Railroad EMD F3 ABA #802, easing into Dearborn Station. The Erie purchased seven F3 ABA passenger sets from EMD in 1947 - #800- 806. Bob Lalich Outstanding photo! Look at all the freight business in the background. Bob Lalich Freight houses of C&EI, Monon and Wabash are seen in this photo. Bill Molony The steam locomotive to the right of center is Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad class K-1 0-8-0 switch engine #233, built by Alco in 1913. Bill Molony posted
A brand new set of Erie Railroad EMD F3 A-B-A locomotives at Dearborn Station back in 1947.
In the background is Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad class L-1 0-6-0 switch engine #233, working a string of passenger cars.
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| Boll Molony posted and David Daruszka enhanced Chicago & western Indiana Railroad Alco RS-1 #256 arriving at Dearborn Station with a three-car suburban train from Dolton, circa 1960. The demand for suburban commuter service on the C&WI declined over the years, but the cost of operating the service did not, and the C&WI discontinued the service in 1964.Bob Lalich I believe this photo was taken in 1964, after the new tower and interlocking plant were installed at Roosevelt Road which eliminated all the hand thrown switches in the throat. The dwarf signal and the power switches seen in the left of this photo were not part of the previous interlocking plant. |
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| Paul Petraitis commented on the above posting Sketch of 111th St Roseland commuter station |
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| Dennis Matthews added When train stations were like castles [You can tell by the roof on the clock tower that this was before the fire.] |
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| Willam A. Shaffer posted Dearborn Station Interior (1992) (Photo by William A. Shaffer) Paul Jevert shared |
William Shaffer posted the above photo and five new ones with the comment: "Dearborn Station . (4.26.04) (All Photos by William A. Shaffer)"
Mark Niceley Yes, the Head House is still there! But not so much as a plauqe, explaining this was Santa Fe's gateway to L.A. and Hollywood, or that this was the train station from which Al Capone, took his last train ride out of Chicago! Nothing!
William A. Shaffer posted ten photos, some of which appear to be new.
Mark Niceley Yes, the Head House is still there! But not so much as a plauqe, explaining this was Santa Fe's gateway to L.A. and Hollywood, or that this was the train station from which Al Capone, took his last train ride out of Chicago! Nothing!
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| William A. Shaffer posted The Headhouse of Dearborn Station - Chicago, IL (Photo by William A. Shaffer) William A. Shaffer posted Dearborn Station - Chicago, IL. (April, 2004) (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| William A. Shaffer posted Dearborn Station - Chicago, IL. (April, 2004) (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
William A. Shaffer posted ten photos, some of which appear to be new.
Dearborn Station - Chicago, IL. (4.26.04)
(All Photos by William A. Shaffer)
Sixteen years ago today (Sunday) [Apr 26, 2020], I shot these photographs of Dearborn Station!
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| William A. Shaffer added to (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| William A. Shaffer posted Wabash PA #1021-A with the "Banner Blue" at Dearborn Station (9.01.60) (Photo by Dennis Schmidt - Collection of William A. Shaffer) |
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| William A. Shaffer posted Dearborn Station is shown in this photo from the 1970s after the Train Shed had been torn off. |
William A. Shaffer posted four photos:
William A. Shaffer posted seven photos with the comment:
William A. Shaffer also posted
Dennis Stanczak Mike Coker http://www.jazzshowcase.com is in the station too!
Jimmy Fiedler I had probably run across 6-7 of those baggage carts at people's homes in the south suburbs of Chicago. People said thats that's where they got them from.
Joe Ikon A Railroadiana pickers paradise!!!
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| 1 Dearborn Station #1 These were the Dark Days for Dearborn Station. All intercity passenger service into and out of Dearborn Station ceased. With the exception of the "Orland Park Cannon Ball", which operated outside of and adjacent to the depot, there was no train service. It was the end of an era for the proud little brick depot---Chicago's oldest depot. (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| 2 Dearborn Station #2 The Train Shed is empty. The trains are all gone---off to Chicago Union Station, for those trains that were left after April 30th. Though the Train Shed was demolished, the Head House remains to this day. (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| 3 Dearborn Station #3 Baggage carts that no longer carry baggage or mail are left to block the unused tracks at Dearborn Station. They have outlived their usefulness with the advent of May 1, 1971. Weeds infest the tracks and nobody cares. It was truly Dearborn Station's Darkest Hour. (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
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| 4 Dearborn Station #4 The Dearborn Station Head House stands proud and defiant, awaiting the wrecker's ball. But the demolition never extended to the Head House, which still stands at the corner of Polk & Federal Streets. Chicago's oldest depot has avoided the fate of Grand Central. (Photo by William A. Shaffer) |
William A. Shaffer posted seven photos with the comment:
Dearborn Station in the Aftermath(All Photos by William A. Shaffer)After the inception of Amtrak, there were some very dark days for Dearborn Station, supposedly the smallest of train stations in Chicago. Many thought it would be torn down, like Central Station and Grand Central Station. But Dearborn Station defied the odds and survived in part. I shot these photos of Dearborn before most of the major demolition began.[The smaller images are duplicates of photos posted above.]
William A. Shaffer also posted
Dennis Stanczak Mike Coker http://www.jazzshowcase.com is in the station too!
Jimmy Fiedler I had probably run across 6-7 of those baggage carts at people's homes in the south suburbs of Chicago. People said thats that's where they got them from.
Joe Ikon A Railroadiana pickers paradise!!!
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| William A. Shaffer posted Dearborn Station (After the Train Shed had been torn off) (Photo by William A. Shaffer) William A. Shaffer posted Dearborn Station in Chicago, IL After the Removal of the Train Shed (Photo by William A. Shaffer) During the dark days after service into Dearborn Station ceased, the Train Shed was removed and the station itself was in a very sad state. William A. Shaffer posted Bret Robertson http://www.dearbornstation.com/ William A. Shaffer posted |
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| William A. Shaffer posted
Dearborn Station in Chicago, IL
(Photo by William A. Shaffer)
Intercity Rail Service has ceased and the Train Shed had been removed. These were the Dark Days for Dearborn Station.
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| William A. Shaffer posted Dearborn Station - The Anxious Years Chicago, IL (Photo by William A. Shaffer) Dearborn Station opened its doors on May 8, 1885 and remained in operation through May 1, 1971. By 1976, the Train Shed and tracks were removed, leaving only the headhouse. The Depot was abandoned until the mid-1980s, when it was converted to retail and office space. Chicago's oldest and smallest depot survived! |
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| Bill Molony posted Erie-Lackawanna EMD E8A's #827 and #832, easing out of Dearborn Station in the 1960's after delivering EL train #5, the Lake Cities from Hoboken, New Jersey. In the background can be seen Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad Alco RS-1 #258, switching Railway Express Agency express cars.Stan Stanovich ...man Mr. Molony, those automobiles are something else as well!!!Bill Molony The black car to the far left is a 1958 Chevrolet Bel Air, the small white car is a 1962 Chevrolet Chevy II, and the larger black car is a 1960 Buick Le Sabre.Stuart B. Slaymaker White car is a 1963 Chevy II Nova [Late 50s and early 60s was the era of tail fins.] |
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| David Daruszka's photo manipulation of a posting by Bill Molony Dearborn Station was a very busy place on September 18, 1946. |
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| Bill Molony posted Grand Trunk Western class U-3-b 4-8-4 #6335, ready to depart from Dearborn Station with an eastbound passenger train. Dennis DeBruler The clock tower on the left looks like the one that was on the north side of the Pennsy's big Polk Street Freight Station. That is on the othe side of the South Branch. |
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| Steven J. Brown posted View from the LaSalle St Station tracks looking at the abandoned Dearborn Street Station prior to all the condos and other development. Chicago, Illinois - December 4, 1976 |
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| Bill Molony posted Anxious passengers await the call to board Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe train #1, the San Francisco Chief, at the Dearborn Station waiting room on the afternoon of December 24, 1964. Bill Molony This photograph was taken by Chicago Sun-Times photographer Bob Kotalik on December 24, 1964 and published in the Sun-Times on December 25, 1964. We have this original photograph in our collection. Mid-Century Decatur posted It's late afternoon on Christmas Eve in 1964 and the waiting room of Chicago's Dearborn Station is packed with travellers. Most trains are sold out. The Santa Fe's San Francisco Chief is now on final boarding for departure at 3:15PM. The Blue Bird, bound for Decatur and St. Louis, departs at 4:35 PM, and will begin boarding passengers soon. It was then inconceivable that within seven years the station would be closed. Photo: Bob Kotalik, Blackhawk Collection Kevin Reynolds shared Andy Brown: Santa Fe probably still ran multiple sections of trains too. Not sure if there were ever second sections of the Blue Bird. |
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| Bill Molony posted Evan Stair Bill, have you ever seen floorplans of Dearborn, especially after the last remodel? I am wondering how it flowed, if there was an elevator / escalator from the upper waiting room to the ground floor. Bill Molony No, I have never seen any floorplans of Dearborn; a modernization project took place in the late 1940's in order to improve ticketing and baggage handling. I'm not aware of their being an elevator or escalator to the second floor waiting room. Mitch Markovitz There was an escalator that went compass south up to north at the observation mezzanine. I got kicked off it twice for "running wrong main" if ya know what I mean. |
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| Bill Molony posted Dearborn Station - circa 1950. Brandon McShane I wonder if any photos of Dearborn's interior survive from before the 1950s modernization. Dennis DeBruler  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1270038776414622/permalink/1632004626884700/ |
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| Evan Stair posted Dearborn Station 1938 from an April 1938 Santa Fe Magazine Article titled, "New Streamliners Go Into Action" |
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| The lobby from DearbornStation from a comment on a posting |
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| Bill Molony posted Santa Fe Alco DL-109 # 50 at Dearborn Station. It was built in May of 1941 and scrapped in October of 1960. It had an A-1-A A-1-A wheel arrangement and was powered by two turbocharged 539 series 6 cylinder engines rated at 1,000 horsepower each. Scott Greig They were not a great success on Santa Fe...but then, E units weren't either. A shame none were saved. Dennis DeBruler Then what was more successful than E units? David Hahn I can’t say officially, but F units. On the CZ, the Q ran E’s over the flatter plains, but for mountain railroading, Drgw and WP eventually ran F’s. David Hahn For the record, I’m an E fan. I could be absolutely wrong, but did the DRGW start their portion of the CZ with PA’s? Cliff Downey Yes, D&RGW PA1's did pull the CZ for a few months but then they were replaced by F3A's. Ray Weart The D&RGW initially did used sets of PA1's on the CZ when the train 1st was inaugurated in 1949. The CB&Q had (Three I think) sets of F3's which were quickly re-geared for freight service and replaced by E units from their pools. But the Q F3's kept their 9900 passenger numbers until they get retired. The D&RGW PA1's were used on other, lesser, passenger trains until their retirement in the 1960's. As an aside, the WP never owned a six axle engine of any kind. Kevin Kelleher SantaFe preferred the F units because the B B arrangement had better adhesion than the A1A trucked locomotives!!!! Ray Weart The D&RGW initially did used sets of PA1's on the CZ when the train 1st was inaugurated in 1949. The CB&Q had (Three I think) sets of F3's which were quickly re-geared for freight service and replaced by E units from their pools. But the Q F3's kept their 9900 passenger numbers until they get retired. The D&RGW PA1's were used on other, lesser, passenger trains until their retirement in the 1960's. As an aside, the WP never owned a six axle engine of any kind. David Daruszka https://www.classicstreamliners.com/lo-alco-dl-109.html Ray Weart The ALCO 539 engine was not a roaring success either which is part of why they for parked alongside some of the steam engines they replaced and ultimately cut up next to them. The AT&SF PA1's were, on the other hand, very successful and ran into 1968 before being traded into EMD for FP45's.Scott Greig I never knew that; I thought its big weak point was that Alco could get no more than 1000 hp out of it. |
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| Bill Molony posted Norfolk & Western train #121, The City of Decatur, departing from Dearborn Station in April of 1971. This train was equipped with reclining seat coaches and a grill-buffet lounge car, but no checked baggage was handled. |
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| Evan Stair posted This is my favorite photo of Dearborn Street Station. I found it on a Pintrest page. I was never in Dearborn Street Station (in fact I still have not been to the Headhouse) but this photo evokes what has been called the gritty feel of the station. (Photographer Unknown) |
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| Dave Arganbright posted Charles Berthold That train #1 was a local. Not all stops are shown.Evan Stair  Here is the source data. http://ctr.trains.com/galleries/archive/cei-gallery[Sullivan, IN depot] https://digital.library.in.gov/Record/WV3_sullivan-86 |
David Daruszka posted eight pictures with the comment:
Member Bill Molony has been posting pictures of trains at Dearborn Station. Here's some photos of the station itself. It now serves as an anchor for the Dearborn Park residential development that replaced the train shed and tracks.Some of these are probably duplicates, but I'm posting all eight so it is presented as David intended.
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| 4 Bill Molony posted Mark Niceley: Visited the retail space that was opened, in the original headhouse. Thought it strange that there's not a mention of the Railroads that terminated there, or an historical plaque of any kind! Bill Molony posted |
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| Bill Molon posted Post Card view of Dearborn Station in Chicago - 1908. |
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| David Daruszka commented on Bill's posting The original B&W photo the colorized postcard was made from. |
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| Bill Molony posted Post Card picture of Dearborn Station - 1956. At that time, Dearborn Station hosted the intercity passenger trains of the Grand Trunk Western, the Erie, The Monon, the Wabash, the Chicago & Eastern Illinois and the Santa Fe. It also hosted the weekday commuter trains of the Chicago & Western Indiana and the Wabash. Bill Molony posted Bob Jungmann: Nice to see the old style Checker cabs that had styling cues looking like Cadillacs and Packards from the front. Bill Molony posted |
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| Evan Stair posted Dearborn Station 1938 from an April 1938 Santa Fe Magazine Article titled, "New Streamliners Go Into Action" |
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| Bill Molony posted Louisville &Nashville E7A #799 (ex-Chicago & Eastern Illinois #28) departing from Dearborn Station with train #3 to Danville in April 1971. The two-car train - a coach and a buffet lounge - will cover the 123 miles to Danville in 2-1/2 hours. [The MoPac got the western branch of the C&EI in 1967, and the L&N got the eastern branch in 1969. So this photo caught the 2-year window of L&N in Dearborn before Amtrak took over passenger service.] |
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| Bill Molony posted Chicago & Western Indiana class J-1 2-6-0 Mogul-type #209 at the Dearborn Station Annex in July of 1939. The 209 was built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the C&WI in 1913. Dennis DeBrulerGroup Admin The Annex was east of the main station. The car would be on Plymouth Court, and the building is the "Outbound Mail Platform." |
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| David Daruszka adjusted the exposure of Bill Molony's posting Santa Fe 4-6-2 Pacific-type #3419, drifting towards the 12th Street Tower and Dearborn Station with 17 cars of AT&SF train #6, The Ranger, on May 30, 1934. |
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| Bill Molony posted Chicago & Western Indiana Alco RS-1 #254, switching the Wabash Blue Bird at Dearborn Station in Chicago - 1956. Richard Fiedler In the 1960’s as a cost cutting measure they would not turn the consist. I remember the dome observation running backwards. William Schenold Where did they wye Dearborn trains? Bob Lalich The C&WI used the wye connection to the CJ at 40th St to turn trains. In contrast, the Union Station trains can use the much closer Jefferson Connector. |
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| Bill Molony posted Erie Railroad EMD E8A's #830 and #831, ready to depart from Dearborn Station with Erie train #6, The Lake Cities, on the morning of October 14, 1955. It was scheduled to depart from Dearborn Station at 10:25 AM and arrive at Jersey City, New Jersey at 8:25 AM the next morning. This train featured reclining seat coaches, a diner-lounge car, and a 10 roomette-6 double bedroom Pullman sleeping car. The entire train was air-conditioned. Coach passengers could rent pillows from the train porter for 25 cents each. Lawrence Smith I read somewhere that all Dearborn station switches were hand thrown until the very end. Bob Lalich The throat was simplified and interlocked with power switches in 1964. |
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| Bill Molony posted Brandon McShane Before the Annex was built? Bill Molony Yes; the Dearborn Station annex was constructed during the WW1 era. Bob Lalich Taylor Street Yard was the original C&WI coach yard. It quickly became inadequate and 18th St Yard was added. That too became inadequate, resulting in C&WI building a much larger coach yard at 51st St. |
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| Wayne Koch posted NYC EMD SW-1 8443 (b. 6-50) ex 617 switches flexi-van terminal Chicago IL 2-1967. [The building in the middle background that looks like a steel mill building was the train shed. The brick building in front of it was the Monon freight house and then the Railroad Express Agency.] |
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| Dennis DeBruler shared Roger Holmes post An unnamed Santa Fe passenger train has arrived at Chicago's Dearborn Station half a century ago. Tony Pignaloni doesnt that look more of a shop building that a trainshed? |
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| Newt Oliver posted Two Santa Fe Railway streamlined passenger trains rest under the shed at Dearborn Station in downtown Chicago on February 2, 1952. Leading both trains are F-series diesel-electric locomotives built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. Photograph by Wallace W. Abbey, © 2015, Center for Railroad Photography and Art. Abbey-02-047-01 Mel Harrison F3's to be exact. Dennis DeBruler This photo shows that the train shed looked more like an industrial building than a traditional train shed. |
Robert Daly posted six photos with the comment: "Some view of Dearborn Station, 1969-1975. See photos for dates and descriptions."
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| 1 Track area from Polk St bridge, August 3 1969. Brandon McShane Roosevelt Road, actually. Robert Daly You are right--I was thinking of B&O Grand Central. |
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| 2 From Roosevelt Road after closure, June 1971. Matt McClure The N&W did not give up on Dearborn for six more years for its commuter trains. https://www.flickr.com/.../7547.../6348373939/in/photostream |
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| 3 From Roosevelt Road, January 15 1974. |
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| 4 Overall view of station layout from my office at 624 S Michigan Ave., Dec 24 1975. The Suburban Annex is in front of the main station building. |
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| 5 The Suburban Annex, May 1971. The dark high rise in the background is the old YMCA Hotel. |
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| 6 Suburban Annex track area, November 1973. Suburban trains of Wabash and C&EI used this facility as well as mail and express trains. Matt McClure Albeit on tracks on the far west side of the station. The separate canopy can be seen in your second photo.Tim Senesac It was the C&WI that ran a couple commuter runs to Dolton, Il which ended in the 50's, I think.Matt McClure N&W continued until about 1977 to operate out of the far west lone canopy of Dearborn with its "Orland Park Cannonball" until development of property was inevitable--Dearborn Park I and II. |
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| Mark Llanuza posted Its 1974 a view from Roosevelt Rd looking at Santa Fe Dearborn station .Went back again in 2011 its all been built up as Dearborn Plaza .You can still see the clock tower. |
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| David Daruszka commented on a posting |
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| Mark Llanuza posted Its the year 1974 I'm over looking the view of Santa Fe's Dearborn station from Roosevelt Road bridge in Chicago .Many classic passenger trains came in and out of here [Santa Fe ] Erie ] GTW ]N&W] Monon] .In my view the stations is full of weeds and rusted rails .I have posted this before but now i have undated this after shot a view taken from same location November 2018 i had to wait for the bare trees to capture this ..The after shot is now Dearborn plaza with Condo's ans shopping .You can still see the famous clock tower from Dearborn station above the trees |
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| Wayne Koch posted 4108 4053 4083 Jim Thomas Wow, I've never seen the "B" let alone all three at once.[This paint scheme was an experiment that evidently failed because these are the only three E units that a Jade Green.] John McCluskey Anyone have close up photos of those half length flexi-vans in the background? |
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| Wayne commented on his post This help? 1967 Chicago. |
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| Newt Oliver posted A gem I found on Pinterest Ken Rattenne Definitely Chicago - the giveaway is the F/M H12-44TS unit in the background. There were only three and all were assigned to the Windy City.Mark Andrews Ken Rattenne yes they were!! They came in May 1956 and they had extended frames and steam generators. And were used specifically to switch passenger cars in Chicago!!! 😉 |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Newt's post It was at the IRM in 2015. |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Newt's post Unfortunately, they have given higher priority to preserving some other FMs. |
Someone on 18th Street took a photo to the South.
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| Bill Molony shared a link Bob Lalich: The photo was taken from the 18th St bridge in Chicago looking south. The train is inbound on the C&WI just a short distance from Dearborn Station. The crossover in the foreground was removed in late 1966. [Bob was going to check the date of the crossover removal because N&W was formed in 1964 and N&W quickly repainted the Wabash geeps.] |
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| BRHS posted
On December 21st, 1922 a fire destroyed the roof attic and third floor of Dearborn Station. It was repaired within a few months, but there were drastic changes in the appearance of the building. The steep pitched roofs were replace with flat roofs surrounded by parapet walls.
What happened to all the bricks and other debris that was dis-guarded during repairs? I don't know about the rest of the stuff, but I have two of the bricks.
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| Jon Roma commented on BRHS's post The following article appeared in the Chicago Tribune on the day after the fire, December 22, 1922. Part 1 of 2. |
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| Dennis DeBruler uploaded Map of C&WI's approach to Dearborn Station Dennis DeBruler The C&WI handled the coaches for all five owners at its coach yard. 22nd Street or Canalport Yard was the team tracks for all five owners. Then each owner had its own yard for freight and engine servicing. https://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/2018/03/c-47th-street-yard.html Bob Lalich C&WI serviced the trains of the five owner roads at 49th St Coach Yard beginning in 1904. When Dearborn first opened in 1885, Taylor St Yard was the coach yard, immediately south of the platforms. To relieve congestion as trains got longer and more trains were added, a new coach yard was built at 18th St in 1893 which included shop facilities. The owner roads serviced their trains in this period. 18th St soon ran out of capacity and was replaced by the coach yard at 49th St. Lawrence Smith Bob i had read somewhere that in later yrs WAB and GTW serviced their pssgr trains in their own yards (Landers and Elsdon). |
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| Dave Arganbright posted Chuck Morris: This photo was taken before 1903, which is when the new LaSalle Street Station opened with its elevated tracks (there is no overpass as there is today.) The photographer was situated at the intersection of Polk and Wells Streets. Wells was then known as Fifth Avenue for some reason. It is marked as such south of the river in a 1910 map I found. [From some comments, we learn that Wells Street was called Fifth Avenue between 1870 and 1912.] was situated at the intersection of Polk and Wells Streets. Dennis DeBruler: Chuck Morris The fire was not until 1922, which would allow for the presence of automobiles. But <1903 explains why I could not find any cars in the photo. |
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| Marty Bernard posted Norfolk & Western GP9 505 built Feb. 1957 as N&W 767 with Train 113, the Orland Park Commuter, departing Dearborn Station, Chicago, taken from the Roosevelt Road Viaduct on March 30, 1971. Marty Bernard shared [A reminder that the train shed looked like a steel mill.] Marty Bernard posted a similar shot |
See Roosevelt Road Tower for more information on the approach tracks for this station.
A Santa Fe train leaving Dearborn passes a C&WI Alco RS1.
Video of stream trains out of Dearborn. A Wabash engine in the 21st Street Crossing. And a Monon engine in the crossing. Keep watching because there are a few more engines going across that crossing. Santa Fe trains provide a different angle and set of diamonds in that crossing.
On Sep 25, 2016, I went to a book signing by Cynthia and Bill of their C&WI book. One of the things Bill explained was the switching operations. For example, when a GTW train arrives at the station, the coaches will be uncoupled from the road engine and a C&WI engine pulls the coaches south to the 47th Street Yard for cleaning and resupply. Meanwhile, the road crew will backup the road engine to the GTW Roundhouse. For outbound trains, the C&WI switcher will spot coaches on a Dearborn platform and express cars at the annex east of the main station. Just before departure time, a C&WI switcher will pull the express cars from the annex and couiple them to the coaches. A GTW engine will backup from the roundhouse to the assembled train, couple on, then depart at the designated time. If I understood correctly, the Monon and Erie had to do the engine backup moves all the way to Hammond, IN.
Freighthouses: south of Dearborn. somewhere around Dearborn.
Donald Haskel caught three different railroads on the station leads in 1965.
Mel Patrick posted a photo of the station leads long enough after its closing that the weeds are knee high. But you can still see part of a "puzzle" (double-slip) switch. (source)
Chad Quick Flickr 1972 Photo
Demolition
C&NW company magazine article on the station
Three photos by Marty of C&WI switchers that have freight houses in the background. I have not figure out which freight houses are in the second and third photos.
Bob Lalich Flickr 1959 Photo, 1959 track drawing of the throat before it was simplified.
Bob Lalich Flickr late 1940s Photo, a couple of the double-slip turnouts and some switch tenders.
Sneebly 1980 Flickr
Joseph Katz 1997 Flickr
Nine pictures between the time it was abandoned as a terminal and before it was repurposed as a shopping mall, sometime in the late 80s or early 90s.
DearbornStation historic photos
Eight interior views The comments in Evan Stair's share has some more links.
Andre Kristopans posted the question:
Something from the old days - where were passenger trains using Dearborn Station turned and serviced? No obvious wyes (except the Santa Fe loop at their yard at 18th). How about lovomotives? At 51st St Erie?
(interior views)
9:57 YouTube of 1959 home movies
Dearborn Street: Santa Fe, C&EI, Monon, Erie, GTW, Wabash, C&O (initially)
Grand Central: B&O, GTW, Pere Marguette, Wisconsin Central (Soo), C&O (later)
Central: IC, Big Four (initially), Michigan Central (initially)
La Salle Street: Rock Island, Nickel Plate, C&EI, LS&MS, Big4 (later), MC (later)
Chicago & North Western: C&NW
Union Station: Pennsy, CB&Q, Milwaukee, Chicago and Alton (GM&O)
Something from the old days - where were passenger trains using Dearborn Station turned and serviced? No obvious wyes (except the Santa Fe loop at their yard at 18th). How about lovomotives? At 51st St Erie?
The Chicago & Western Indiana's yard at 51st Street was used to service and turn most of the intercity passenger trains that used Dearborn Station. The Santa Fe was the only exception; they did their own servicing of their passenger trains.
C&WI used the wye at 40th St to turn trains.
Author
Kind of figured that... MON had a yard at 43rd, C&EI was at 26th, but these were freight only I guess.
Canal St Yard was a team yard for all C&WI owners. 37th St Yard was leased exclusively to C&EI. Wabash leased 47th St Yard. Originally, Monon had a yard at 51st St but that was eliminated when C&WI elevated the yards at 51st St around 1904.
Author
Thank you for this clarification! But another question - when a train was turned at 40th, did a CWI switcher do the honors?
Andre Kristopans
- yes, C&WI switched the passenger trains of its owners. ATSF, being a tenant of Dearborn, switched their own trains.
The information about C&WI using the wye at 40th St was given to me by a former C&WI dispatcher. That move involved using a short segment of the CJ. I neglected to ask him about details such as wheelage charges. I presume that during the time period when CJ had a switchtender manning the maze of switches at Union St, there would have been communication between the C&WI towerman at 40th St and the CJ switchtender.
Some of the most unique diesel locomotives ever switched Dearborn for the C&WI. Lots of Fairbanks-Morse goodies.
9:57 YouTube of 1959 home movies
Absolutely an excellent historical record and photos. The best I have ever seen of a passenger terminal.
ReplyDeleteThose three photos of the C&WI switchers show the C&EI freight houses in the background. The first and third photos show the C&EI Outbound Freight House. The second photo is the 2-story portion of the C&EI Inbound Freight House.
ReplyDeleteRich
Did Dearborn have two lunch rooms? If you look at the photos from the University of Arizona, that would appears to be the case:
ReplyDeletehttp://harvey.library.arizona.edu/finding_aid/4il/4/4-4-20.html
http://harvey.library.arizona.edu/finding_aid/4il/4/4-4-18.html
http://harvey.library.arizona.edu/finding_aid/4il/4/4-4-3.html
David Schnell
davidschne28@gmail.com